Chapter 671: Everything Ready

It's a leopard cat!

The words had barely left Aguuang's mouth before the others recognized it too — a tiger-striped house cat, a leopard-spotted leopard cat. Leopard cats look a lot like house cats, but if you look closely at the markings, you can tell them apart.

Aguuang had plenty of experience — as a kid, he'd often gone deep into the mountains and caught the occasional glimpse. He'd spotted it at a glance just now, and after a closer look at the markings on its body, he was sure it was a leopard cat.

Long ago, the brigade had caught one too, but this kind of leopard cat was agile and vicious — not easy to catch. You'd have to use a trap.

"How is there a leopard cat here? And it's not moving at all?"

"Yeah, why does it keep meowing right there?"

"Hehe, is it hurt? That's why it's just sitting there without moving? The flashlight's been shining on it the whole time, and it hasn't budged, hasn't run."

"Can the Dragon-Phoenix Soup be upgraded to Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix Soup now?!"

Everyone couldn't help but lick their lower lips and nod — this one works, a great tonic!

"Forget the Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix Soup for now, let's get closer and take a look first. Who knows if it'll just bolt?"

"Right, let's walk closer first, keep your steps light. This cat isn't like a house cat, you know? It's pretty vicious, it'll bite."

The four of them tiptoed forward one behind the other, trying not to make a sound. The leopard cat just kept meowing there without moving — if you only heard the sound, you'd really think it was just an ordinary cat.

Little did they know, this one would later become a Class Two protected animal — quite the offense!

But that was all in the future, none of their business now. Later on, if you caught too many of those vegetable snakes, you'd even get fined.

In the dark of night, the leopard cat's eyes looked especially bright. As they drew closer and closer, the leopard cat still stayed put, only shifting its body slightly into the bushes, half-hidden, not as conspicuous as before.

If they hadn't heard the meowing just now and deliberately shone the flashlight around, and if its markings hadn't been so distinctive, plus those faintly amber eyes especially eye-catching, half-hidden like that on a dark night, it really wouldn't have been easy to spot.

"Huh? There's a trap under its feet!"

"There's a jaw trap!"

"No wonder it just stays put without moving, only meowing."

"The meow sounds weak and listless — it's probably been caught for a day or two, right?"

The four of them stood not far in front of it, looking at the leopard cat curled up, and they were all thrilled.

Wasn't this just delivered right to their door?

If they'd actually run into one out in the open, it would've fled before they could catch it.

"Let's grab it first and take it back."

"You do it!"

Aguuang looked back at the three of them with contempt — what good were they at the critical moment?

All they knew was eating and pooping!

"Go find two sturdy vines, tie up its feet first so it doesn't scratch anyone."

"Got it."

Doing this kind of work they could handle, but catching was out of the question. Little volunteered to go look for vines on the side.

Every trade has its specialty — among friends, there's always one person who has to take on everything…

"Tsk tsk tsk, this leopard cat looks pretty big — we've got something to eat tonight."

"Looks like it's gotta be over ten jin. With snake, chicken, and cat, we can stew a whole big pot."

"Stewing it tonight? Isn't that too late?"

"Fatty works during the day, when would he have time? It has to be at night."

"When we head back, we can have Fatty slaughter it first, and swing by my place to grab a chicken. By the time we finish up tonight and get back, it'll be just right to stew and eat for nourishment."

"That works — let's call it the victory feast!"

The three of them chatted eagerly, as if they could already smell it.

As soon as the vines were brought over, they took sticks and actively cooperated with Aguuang to subdue the leopard cat. They tied up its two hind legs first, then removed the somewhat worn and rusted jaw trap, and then tied up its two front legs.

They didn't care that its foot was injured — they were going to kill it anyway.

After tying it securely, Aguuang grabbed the leopard cat by the scruff of its neck, lifted it up, and handed it to Little.

"You take it back first and have Fatty slaughter and process it, yeah? Saves the hassle of carrying it around. Swing by Ah Zheng's place and grab a chicken on the way, tell Fatty to prep everything in advance — later on, once the snake is dealt with, we can just throw it all in the pot."

Little looked at Ah Dong, who was gazing up at the sky, pacing back and forth, looking left and right, pretending he didn't know anything — then looked at Ah Zheng, who had picked up his bamboo basket and was looking down his nose at him.

Why him again?

"Ah Zheng goes! And I have to go to your place to grab a chicken — how would I dare? What if your mom thinks I'm stealing a chicken and just whacks me out the door with a broom?"

"Just tell my mom I told you to grab one."

"How could I bring myself to do that? You go yourself — grab your own family's chicken yourself, no one can do anything to you."

He hadn't had enough fun yet — he'd only just caught a leopard cat, who knew what else was out there? How could he bear to leave?

"Then we'll eat your family's chicken." Ah Zheng didn't want to go back either!

"Eat your family's!"

"Eat your family's!"

"Eat your family's!"

"Shit, rock-paper-scissors."

"Rock-paper-scissors… you lost, hurry up and go! Told you to go ages ago, just had to do rock-paper-scissors — see? It was destined to be you." Little was smugly triumphant.

Ah Zheng glared at him sulkily, shoved the bamboo basket in his hands straight into Little's arms — nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Owwww, is this something you hold in your arms? Scared me to death…"

Little fumbled to take the bamboo basket from his arms and hold it by hand again before he felt a bit at ease — there were several snakes in there, how could you hold it in your arms, that close?

"Hmph hmph, don't go too far, I'll be back in a bit."

"Go, go."

Ah Zheng, deeply reluctant, carried the leopard cat and walked back with a flashlight in one hand.

The three continued searching with flashlights; the night offered poor light, making it hard to find anything.

After more than an hour, they found another one, and Azheng came over again, bringing them a few pieces of scorched rice along the way.

"Great, good brother! You knew we hadn't eaten and still remembered to bring us scorched rice!"

"I scrounged up scorched rice from Ah Guang's house, our own, and Fatty's. I got back just in time; no older kids were home, so your families left you a portion of rice, and the scorched rice was still there."

Scorched rice from under the earthen stove was usually the most popular treat for children at home—crispy and crunchy. Even Ye Yaodong couldn't get a bite normally, but now he was finally eating it. Perhaps because he was hungry, it tasted exceptionally fragrant.

"When you're hungry, everything tastes good."

"It was pretty tasty to begin with."

"How many did you catch after I left?"

"One."

"Ah, so inefficient? That makes only six in total. Should we keep catching?"

Ye Yaodong glanced at his wristwatch. "It's not even eight yet. Let's search for another half hour. Whether we find more or not, we'll pull out; no one's moving around in the village at this hour."

"Alright!"

They continued searching while eating the scorched rice, wiping their hands on their clothes only after finishing.

You could say their luck wasn't bad; right before leaving, they actually found another one. It was quite large; when they lifted it to measure, it was as long as Ah Guang himself.

"This one's at least two and a half jin! Let's stew them all in one pot tonight. Everyone can eat their fill until they can't stand another bite, and we can even take the leftovers home!" Ah Guang declared with great flair.

"Hehe, Brother Guangzi is still the best!"

"Without using tools, just searching by manpower, finding this many is a huge harvest for tonight."

"Let's go. Put them safely in the cage and stop searching. It's late; the chance for a big haul is here!" Seeing the time was about right, Ye Yaodong didn't want to wait any longer and eagerly wanted to head back.

"Let's go, let's go, back home, back home..."

After placing the snakes into the bamboo cage, the four headed back. They spotted a wild rabbit along the way but ignored it, hurrying toward the main road without a second glance.

Without a musket in hand, with empty hands, they couldn't catch it even if they tried; it would only waste time.

Tonight's haul was already impressive; unexpectedly finding a leopard cat was enough for them to eat. A rabbit was nothing compared to a leopard cat and no longer sparked their interest.

After working from dusk until now for just a few snakes, it was time to test the results.

"Luckily there aren't many mosquitoes yet; if it were midsummer, we couldn't have lasted until this hour."

"Stop talking nonsense. Ah Guang, go fetch your bicycle. Two of us will ride one bike to go faster. I can't wait to see the show and enjoy a big meal."

"Okay. You two hold the cage steady; don't drop it."

Ah Guang ran quickly back and forth. He didn't take the bamboo sticks and other tools home, just left them at the door for them to watch, since they'd need to catch those guys again later.

He also grabbed the fireplace tongs from home, which he had forgotten to bring earlier; otherwise, using the tongs to clamp them would have been more convenient.

Two people per bicycle, pedaling furiously. Ye Yaodong even stood up while riding; the feeling of the wind billowing around him was exhilarating.

"Hoo~"

"Shh, keep it down, Dongzi~"

"I know. We're still at the village entrance; I just let out a breath."

At this hour, the village was utterly silent. Only the occasional bark of a dog and the rare meow of a cat came from not far away. There were hardly any lights in the village; darkness covered everything, making even the slightest sound clearly audible.

They didn't dare turn on their flashlights; if the light shone into someone's window, it would be too conspicuous. They dared only to ride by moonlight; after all, none of them were blind, and their eyesight was quite good.

However, along the way, they ran into Lin Ji, whom they hadn't seen in a long time. This time, he was walking alone; no large group accompanied him, making him look somewhat normal.

Perhaps he was scared by that unsent denunciation letter? Had he shifted his base of operations recently, striking once and moving to a new location, rotating spots? Or was he just resting today?

Lin Ji also looked at the four of them in surprise. "It's so late; where are you four riding your bicycles to?"

"Nothing much. Felt a bit hot, so we came out for a breeze!"

"Ah?" He paused, but his attention was instantly drawn to the bamboo basket on the rear rack. A hissing sound came from inside, sounding particularly clear.

Seeing Lin Ji's gaze fixed on the basket, Ye Yaodong chuckled twice. "We have other matters; we'll be off first."